So far this year, it’s sounded like there were three main players in the effort to make fingerprint scanners on smartphones the next big feature. We’ve since seen Apple release the iPhone 5S, complete with that integrated home button TouchID system, and it’s sure looking likely that HTC will deliver its own fingerprint solution with the One Max; that leaves Samsung. Back in May, a software dump sure made it look like the company was preparing to bring the feature to its lineup, but the requisite hardware never actually surfaced. There was talk for a while that the Note 3 might be the phone to introduce it, but even going back as far as July, those rumors were fizzling early, and of course, no scanner was present at the Note 3’s launch. So, just where does Samsung stand at this point? Some new comments out of the company make it seem like fingerprint scanning is no longer a priority, and Samsung’s not actively perusing it.

An unnamed Samsung official has reportedly stated, “we are not yet developing the technology,” and making it clear that its presence on the Note 3 was never officially confirmed. Well, maybe not developing it currently, but that software, with all its fingerprint-related media (displayed above), sure came from somewhere within Samsung.

Analysts are a little less sure about this blanket rejection of the tech, and expect to see Samsung quickly get back on the fingerprint bandwagon once it’s able to gauge the success (or failure) of both Apple’s and HTC’s efforts. If it waits too long, however, that may mean that the Galaxy S 5 (not to mention all this F-series jazz) may exit development before Samsung’s ready to commit to making a scanner happen.